Merry Men Bios
by latetolove
Summary: A series of one-shots written in response to a photo challenge posted on the yahoo group Babecakesrus. You can look up the pictures to see my motivation, or you can use your own mental images of JE's men except for Vlad. He's new . They're short & sweet and were created mainly as a diversion from a stalled muse on my next story. I hope you enjoy them as your own diversion.
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: My goal is to post one of these each day until I run out of inspiration. I have several completed already.

They're Janet's Men. I've just given them some definition.

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**Merry Men Bios**

**by Latetolove**

**Harold Gordon: aka Hal**

Hal was born and raised in the rural town of Cawker City, Kansas. His mother ran off when Hal was only three, leaving his father to raise Hal, his baby brother Rafe, and his older brother George Jr., on his own. They made their living on a small farm, and for his fifth birthday, Hal received a calf. He coddled it, fed it, and spent the better part of the next two years enjoying its companionship and calling her his best friend until, one day, his father butchered it for meat. On his seventh birthday, he received another calf, and the sad tradition continued to repeat every two years. He always named them Sally.

Hal loved cars, and before he was twelve, could take apart and rebuild any engine on any car or tractor in town. He and his brothers converted the back of the barn into a home gym, and by the time he was 16, Hal could lift every car and tractor in town.

In High School, Hal played defensive end for five years. In a nod to his last name, and everyone's favorite superhero, he was affectionately nicknamed "The Commissioner", because he was the administrator of life threatening concussions to several of the opposing team's quarterbacks. When year six of high school became a looming possibility, he was mysteriously confirmed for graduation in an act many equated to the intent of a pity fuck. It was, however, wildly rumored that Christine Spellnick, the head guidance counselor, had been the mastermind of the maneuver due to the fact that, the following year, her own son was to become the starting quarterback for Greenfield Central; Cawker High School's main football rival.

The day after graduation, Hal enlisted in the US Army. He breezed through boot camp and was routinely, but affectionately, teased by the other soldiers for his overt love of the mess hall food. He'd never had better. His superior mechanical skills were immediately recognized by his CO, and he was transferred into the Wheeled Vehicle Mechanic Division, where he was trained to handle the maintenance and repair of light and heavy tactical vehicles and select armored vehicles. His enthusiasm, knowledge, and dedication eventually led him to become primarily responsible for supervising and performing maintenance and recovery operations on wheeled vehicles used in special ops missions. It was on one of these missions that he met a man named Carlos 'Ranger' Manoso, who later offered him a position in his new security company.

Because of his extreme timidity when it comes to the fairer sex, Hal experiences romance vicariously through the timeless country western songs of Johnny Cash and Hank Williams and the occasional playboy magazine left behind in the RangeMan break room. His coworker, Lester Santos, jokes that Hal wouldn't know what to do with a woman if she fell from the sky and landed in his lap. It's true. Since his mother had left them, the only woman to even get close enough to touch him had been Stephanie Plum, and that was so she could stun him with his own weapon. Hal has trouble speaking to females and shies away from social and job situations involving them. The one time exception being the FTA whose mother begged them not to take her son into custody. She was a large woman, maybe 300 pounds. Hal felt inexplicably drawn to her and spent several minutes assuring her that her son would not be hurt and would probably bond out again in no time. Her name was Sally.

Hal loves fried chicken and hates coffee, but buys a cup every morning at the Seven Eleven three blocks from RangeMan just to catch a glimpse of the "sweetest looking girl" he's ever seen. He has never looked her in the eye and has never spoken a word to her beyond a mumbled 'thank you'. Unfortunately, he never bothers to look back over his shoulder as he leaves. For if he did, he would see that the girl never takes her own coveting eyes off of him, until he's driven beyond her sight.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Thank you all for the lovely reviews, even for those to whom I could not reply (Margaret!) Enjoy Lester.

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**Merry Men Bios**

**by Latetolove**

**Lester Mateo Santos: aka Lester**

Lester Santos' childhood was a study in contradictions. His parents met while his mother, a native of New York, worked as a Spanish translator for the diplomatic corps in Washington, DC, and his father was, then, acting ambassador to the United States from the country of Ecuador. Because of his parent's busy professional schedules and constant travelling, Lester spent the bulk of his youth bouncing between two very different worlds. He spent the majority of each school year living in Brooklyn with his mother's parents. He attended the same public school his mother had, and roamed the same streets with his friends. They were a rowdy bunch, playing street ball, chasing girls, raising hell, and looking for trouble...and nearly always finding it. He had a favorite leather jacket that he was rarely seen without. He smoked cigarettes, carried a knife, and drank whatever he and his friends could get their hands on. With just a look from those intense green eyes and a smile that intimated very naughty thoughts, girls all but melted; dazed and flattered by even his slightest attentions.

His summers and vacations were spent in Ecuador with his father's family. There he was spoiled by the life of privilege. Servants prepared his meals, washed his clothes, cleaned up after him, and otherwise satisfied his every need (a service particularly relished by the young house girls). His 'Lita' and 'Poppi' thought the sun rose and set on their beautiful, charming grandson. He was well groomed in the sophisticated ways of the upper class, attending debutant balls and other high society functions, making political connections to secure his future, and giving the young women of Santo Domingo something to dream about. By his mid-teens, his reputation as a lothario was already well-earned. A golden path of success was laid out before him.

As the decision for college loomed, so did the pressure from all sides of his family. Everyone had expectations. Everyone had an opinion about what he should be doing and where he should be going, except for Lester. One sunny afternoon in April, just two weeks after his eighteenth birthday and two months before graduation, the debates and disputes came to a head. Lester, in a fit of irrational and juvenile behavior following a heated phone call with his parents, walked out of the house, into an Army recruiting office, and signed the next few years of his life over to Uncle Sam. His grandmother cried, and so did the neighborhood girls. His grandfather went eerily quiet and took his disappointment out on a table in his workshop that didn't really need to be sanded, but received it nonetheless. When his Lita and Poppi were informed, they were incensed and demanded he fly to Ecuador immediately.

Lester ignored their anger, their pleas, and their tears, and with his chin held high, followed _his_ chosen path.

Boot Camp was a bit of a cultural challenge for Lester, but he held his own. His scores in intelligence, physical fitness, and hand to hand combat were high, and, on the recommendation of his superiors, he was placed in Ranger School for his advanced training.

The rest, they say, is history. Teaming up with the likes of Tank, one of the strongest and best men he'd ever met, Bobby Brown, a crack shot and Combat Life Saver specialist, and Carlos Manoso, the brilliant man who assembled them into the top squadron in the Rangers, Lester Mateo Santos found a vocation that took the best skills learned from both his childhood worlds and combined them into a valuable tool for the Army. His strength was Intelligence.

Lester was the James Bond of the RangeMen team and could gather Intel in a tux with all the savvy and sophistication of Sean Connery, or demand it in fatigues with the draw of a knife to the throat with the agility and callousness of a well-trained soldier. He had no qualms with either approach, although, if the mission involved obtaining information from a woman, he'd much rather kiss her than kill her.

Lester likes ceviche - a rich traditional Ecuadorian stew with black clams, red crabs and lobster, served with fine wine, New York style pizza and beer, and beautiful women; especially those with their throats still intact.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: Sorry for the Sunday downer. No humor here. Hector is actually the most tragic of the Merry Men, but he usually brightens my day when he appears in any story.

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**Merry Men Bios**

**by Latetolove**

**Hector Diaz Navas: aka Hector**

Hector Navas and his younger sister Lida were raised by their native Puerto Rican mother who worked two jobs to keep them fed and housed in the Curry Hill Projects of Trenton, New Jersey. Hector has only a few vague memories of his American father; none of them good. As the bruises faded, so did his concern.

His involvement with the Latin Kings gang began when he was eleven years old. Although the gang had a large nationwide presence and a reputation for being highly organized, the Trenton gang lacked adequate leadership and order, but still involved itself in a great deal of crime, and its members were not beyond using a child in their attempts at illegal gain. Capitalizing on his quickness and small size, Hector was initially used by older gang members to assist in break-ins and burglaries. He would often shimmy over fencing, climb fire escapes and drain pipes, maneuver through air duct systems, and, even once, descended a chimney to open the property up for his 'compañeros' to enter. As he got older, his involvement deepened and transformed into something much darker. His stealth skills, and his ability to wield a quick knife with no apparent remorse, made him menacingly lethal, and he had the tattoos to back it up. The gang life offered Hector the mentorship of men he thought he could look up to and emulate. In reality they only offered him a different form of the same abuse he had suffered at the hands of his father. Hector's sexual experiences began early with experimentation encouraged by his 'older friends' then developed and matured only into an endless series of casual one night stands that lacked the emotional intimacy he so desperately craved.

As a juvenile, his life was a revolving door of run-ins with the courts and social services. Each time the system was so overburdened and underfunded, that Hector seemed to magically slip through the cracks. When he turned eighteen, his luck ran out, and he was sentenced to serve five years in Trenton State Prison for aggravated assault. As part of his time served, he enrolled in a computer electronics education program offered by the state during his confinement. He was paroled after three years, and Hector was required to serve two hundred hours of community service for restitution of his crimes against the state of New Jersey.

By the time of his release, the Latin Kings gang had all but disappeared from Trenton, and Hector felt lost and disconnected. His parole officer, fearing Hector would bolt town and violate his parole, gave him the contact information of a man called Ranger. Because of his contracts with the government, Ranger Manoso had special dispensation to offer convicted felons community service hours through his private company. At the interview, Ranger was immediately impressed with Hector's achievements during his time at the state prison and saw the valuable potential hiding inside the man. He offered Hector room and board in addition to his hours.

As time went on, a unique mentor-based friendship developed between the two men, and when Hector had completed his hours, Ranger offered him a full-time position on his staff. The relationship quickly became symbiotic, as Ranger gained a valuable employee who had the ability to blend into the darkest corners of Stark Street to gain information, and Hector found direction with a mentor that offered him a successful future and a relationship that filled a void he'd felt all of his life.

Hector loves spicy food, his mama's arroz con pollo, Sebenza knives, and men with dark brown eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: Vlad's inspiration came soley from the first picture in the challenge. He didn't fit any of my standard ideas or images for any of JE"s original Merry Men, so I created one myself. There's probably more to Vlad than I've written here, so who knows, maybe he'll end up in my next fanfiction story. He intrigues me.

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**Merry Men Bios**

**by Latetolove**

**Vladimir Novotny: aka Vlad**

Vlad was born in Romania. As a child, he began his obsession with physical fitness by running with wolves through the virgin forests of the southern Carpathian Mountains. As he matured into adulthood, he developed a fondness for chasing virgins through the same forests. His family was forced to move to the city of Minsk, in Belarus, to escape the anger and paternity claims from three neighboring families.

At the age of 20, Vlad enlisted in the Belarusian Army as an alternative to following in the banal footsteps of his father and brothers by working in the local industrial factory.

His extraordinary strength, bravery and intimidation skills allowed him to quickly move through the ranks, and it wasn't long before he was recognized as the youngest soldier to ever lead a division of the 8th Guards Mechanized Infantry Brigade. His notoriety and continued successes gained him entry into the Minsk Higher Military Command School, where his skills were further developed, honed and broadened.

After an unfortunate incident with his Commanding Officer's daughter, Vlad was immediately reassigned to the Joint Cooperation Task Force for the prevention of human trafficking and technology crime; a newly formed exchange program to improve bilateral relations with the United States. Six months into his new position, he was sent to Trenton, New Jersey to work with a high ranking, well-known American operative by the name of Carlos 'Ranger' Manoso. He settled easily into the role of Merry Man, and was able to both share and receive information with a group of men he finally felt at union with. Commrades. Equals.

Ranger was immediately impressed with Vlad's skills...and so were the women of Trenton. Many of which he also felt at union with.

Vlad loves dogs, Vodka, and Madonna.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note: Enjoy this little vignette about Tank. Thanks to so many for the wonderfully uplifting reviews.

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**Merry Men Bios**

**by Latetolove**

**Pierre LeBeau Freeman: aka Tank**

Pierre LeBeau Freeman was born the son of a French Creole mother from New Orleans, and an African American father from Mississippi. As a child, he never stayed in one place long enough to make many friends, because his father was military and had been transferred around the country eight times before Pierre's tenth birthday. His family then spent two years living on an Air Force base in Germany before his father was killed in a refueling accident when he was only 12 years old. He and his mother returned to the states to live with his mémère in the swamp lands of Louisiana. His grandmother spoke no English, so Pierre quickly picked up Cajun French as a second language.

The tough middle school years got tougher when Pierre hit puberty and grew at the speed of light; out-measuring not only his classmates, but most of their fathers as well, before he turned 15. Although he studied hard and was always an excellent student, it wasn't uncommon for him to return home from school with a note of suspension for fighting. He almost never started the fights, but he always finished them. Pierre didn't like bullies, and when he saw one trying to intimidate or assault another kid, he stepped in. It was the right thing to do.

After high school, Pierre escaped the confines and prejudices of life in the southern Louisiana bayou by following in his father's footsteps and joining the military. At six foot six and 310 pounds, his massive size prohibited him from his longtime dream of flying planes, but it was an asset to the process of becoming an Army Ranger. The Army strengthened his spirit, disciplined his mind, and tightened his body into a deadly fighting machine. It was there that he earned the nickname Tank.

While completing the rigorous training, Tank met Lt. Ricardo Carlos Manoso. Candidates who displayed a natural aptitude for leadership were chosen as squadron leaders and were allowed to choose their own men. Lieutenant Manoso was one of those men. He had an uncanny propensity for identifying the strengths of his fellow soldiers and was smart enough to choose Tank for his size, intelligence and dedication to his responsibilities. The two became fast friends and were rarely seen apart from each other during training maneuvers or their recreational pursuits while on leave. Manoso's squadron, with the combined talents and skills of Tank, Lester Santos, Bobby Brown and six others, won every competition and contest. They nicknamed their unit The RangeMen.

In an unprecedented decision, the very effective RangeMen Unit was kept intact after the completion of their training, and was immediately assigned to some of the most dangerous and sensitive missions in the Army. Tank easily fell into a second-in-command role that was both supported and respected by the rest of the unit. He often acted as a go between for the men and Ranger's rigid command style. His fair-mindedness and unassuming diplomatic skills had them all frequently seeking his counsel.

After three years of non-stop action in some of the most godforsaken places on the planet, Tank stepped away from the active Army Rangers and followed his best friend to Miami where Ranger planned to start a business; offering Tank the opportunity to continue his role of second-in-command.

Tank loves seafood gumbo, strong-minded, sassy women, and cats.


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: This will be my final post until after vacation. I'm not done with the Merry Men, obviously because I'm still missing Bobby and possibly others that will pop into my head, But I'm leaving for an extended visit to Europe tomorrow am...early. My internet access will be spotty, but I will at least try to keep up with answering reviews. I've loaded my kindle so that Plum withdrawal symptoms (cravings for cake, attacking unsuspecting Latino men...Grandma Mazur style, and responding to obvious questions from my family with a typical Lula shout) are kept to a minimum.

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**Merry Men Bios**

**by Latetolove**

**Woodward Sanderson: aka Woody**

Woody is the living, breathing example of why they say; "Everything's bigger in Texas!" He's 6'5" and wears a size 15 shoe. His mother has always insisted that she had pulled the name Woodward from a remote branch of her family tree. However, several years ago at a Ladies Auxilliary luncheon, in a slightly drunken confession to her best friend Maisey Sweetwater, Trisha Sanderson admitted it was actually an inadvertent naming. As she was slowly reviving from her drug induced haze following the birth of her eleven pound, seven ounce son, Trisha heard the nurses admiring and cooing over her beautiful boy. Amongst the chatter, her still foggy mind registered the comment; "That is one very fine Woody." Trisha assumed that, at some point during her difficult delivery, she must have given the nurses that name for her son and just didn't remember. It wasn't until the following day, when she changed his diaper for the first time, that she realized the true object of their admiration. The paper work had already been completed for the birth certificate, so she felt obligated to stick with it to avoid social embarrassment. At the time, Maisey had sworn to take the secret to her grave, but following the unfortunate disclosure, Trisha noticed a definite change in the way all of her girlfriends appraised and eyed her teenage son.

Woody is the youngest, and only, son in a family of four children. Having been raised in the 'upper crust' of Houston society and amid the household of three beautiful sisters, Woody has learned all the skills and nuances required to charm and beguile a woman. His smooth Texas drawl and fresh-faced smile have served him well. Woody learned to handle more than horses in the stables at his family's ranch. He lost his virginity at the age of 16 to Mandy Goodspeed, the much older and very willing daughter of the hired foreman.

Woody's best and closest friend was Hank Marshall. They grew up together, got into trouble together, spent every free moment joined at the hip learning to rope, ride and rustle and, in high school, double dated more times than they could count. After graduating, they even left for college together, both studying business at the prestigious Baylor University in Waco. Their pie-in-the-sky plan was to, one day, become business partners in a working ranch.

Two years into their studies, the events of 911 inspired them to answer the call to serve. Together, Hank and Woody enlisted in the Marines and left almost immediately for boot camp in San Diego. It was rigorous training, but both men succeeded and surpassed their peers in their completion of The Crucible, a strenuous 54-hour physical and mental final challenge to test the skills and readiness of the recruit to continue service after fourteen weeks of intense training. Hank was an excellent marksman and Woody excelled at martial arts. Upon completion of their School of Infantry training, both were assigned to the same unit and were deployed to Afghanistan.

After serving two tours of duty, Woody returned home alone. Hank had been severely wounded in a road side bombing and three weeks later, had died of his injuries. Unable to stay in Texas with the constant reminder of the loss of his best friend, Woody took a job, as far from home as possible. He landed in Trenton, New Jersey with a company called RangeMan Security. Woody is somewhat of a novelty to the women of Trenton. When his drop-dead gorgeous face and concupiscent body don't catch the attention of every woman in the room, his effortless and polished Texas accent does.

Woody loves steak, sleeping out in the open, and horses, but hasn't ridden one since the day he and Hank rode together before shipping out for their second tour.

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A/N: Remember, I'm not done with these yet. I'll be back after vacation.

PS, Ever the teacher...How many of you looked up the word concupiscent? That was a new one for me as well. I just had to try it out in a sentence! I know...that makes me such a word nerd.


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